It has long been recognized that it is desirable to remove all of the bones from a fish fillet prior to cooking. Prior tools and methods for removing fish bones have included cutting the fish into two fillets, which although effective for removing the backbone and ribs, were unsuccessful for removing the small, curved pin bones from the fillets. The pin bones extend along the sides of the backbone for about two-thirds of the length of the fish. In large fish, such as whitefish, lake trout, haddock and scrod, removal of the pin bones either requires that they be painstakingly removed one at a time by hand, while avoiding breaking them, or that the portion of the fish fillet containing the pin bones be cut out and discarded. In contrast, in the case of small fish, such as perch, the pin bones are normally left within the fish. Removal is unnecessary from such small fish because the pin bones are small and will dissolve during cooking.
Thus, there has been a need for a tool and a method for deboning fish which is particularly adapted for removing the pin bones efficiently and thoroughly from large fish, such as whitefish, lake trout, haddock, scrod and the like. Also, such a tool should be capable of removing a number of pin bones simultaneously.